Mumbai: In the fatal hit-and-run case that took place inside the premises of Sion Hospital on Friday night - May 24 - the magistrate court granted bail to the accused Dr Rajesh C. Dere, head of the forensic and toxicology department of the same hospital. Returning to the day of the alleged accident, the Free Press Journal checks the lapses from the side of the hospital through its timeline.
The victim Rubeda Shaikh, 60, a resident of Mumbra, had come to Sion Hospital to change her dressing of the incision on Friday. The incident, as per the First Information Report (FIR) registered by the victim's son Shahnawaz Shaikh (31), happened between 7:45 pm to 8 pm. In the CCTV camera footage, Dr Dere is seen coming out of the hospital building, sitting inside his car, and while he was attempting to drive outside - towards the exit gate - he ran over Shaikh.
According to the police, Shaikh was ‘sleeping’ on the spot of her death before the incident took place. “As per the staff, the victim was sleeping there for a long time. The staff said they attempted to wake her up saying she cannot sleep here, but she allegedly didn’t listen to them, instead yelling at them for disturbing her,” a police official said.
Meanwhile, Shahnawaz, in a video said that his mother had diabetes and blood pressure and experienced weakness which could be why she was sleeping. The staff, when last checked on her, said she was conscious enough to talk and yell at them.
After Dr Dere ran over her, he didn’t step outside his car for a couple of seconds, while locals along with staff and some cops rushed to the spot to check on Shaikh. Shaikh, who was bleeding, was taken to the emergency ward by Dr Dere but he hid the fact that it was caused due to the accident. Instead, she was admitted saying she was found ‘unconscious near the gate.’
“We were told there was an incident, and we rushed to the spot to check on it. The patient was put on the ventilator so she couldn’t talk to us either. We tried to ask the hospital staff about the victim's details - hospital records to find out about her family members - but they kept delaying it. Same with the CCTV camera footage to determine how the accident took place but that too was not provided for hours,” said a police official, adding that hours after Shaikh was on the ventilator, she was declared dead.
Throughout Friday night, up until Saturday noon, the police were not provided the CCTV camera footage. “We managed to get the contact number of the victim’s son but he didn’t receive any of our calls despite calling him several times. By afternoon he was informed and asked to come to the hospital to verify the victim’s body.
On Saturday afternoon, police managed to get access to the CCTV camera footage, which finally revealed how the incident took place, declaring it a hit-and-run accident by the car owned by Dr Dere.
Shahnawaz was then taken to the Sion police station to register the FIR, which was registered at 8:20 pm on Saturday - that is almost 24 hours after the incident took place. The FIR mentions the accused as Dr Dere who the police then started to locate and he was brought to the police station after 10 pm. “He was first sent for medical examination and at 12:52 am (Sunday), the accused was placed under arrest,” said an official.
The next morning, Dr Dere was taken to the magistrate court where he was granted a cash bail of Rs. 20,000. The police later collected Dr Dere’s blood samples and viscera which were sent to the Kalina Forensic Science Laboratories (FSL) for medical examination.
Dr Dere has been booked under sections 304A (causing death due to negligence), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering human life), 279 (rash driving), 177 (knowingly furnishing false information to a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code and section 184 (driving dangerously) of the Motor Vehicle Act.
